Skip to main contentAccessibility feedback
Dear catholic.com visitors: This website from Catholic Answers, with all its many resources, is the world’s largest source of explanations for Catholic beliefs and practices. A fully independent, lay-run, 501(c)(3) ministry that receives no funding from the institutional Church, we rely entirely on the generosity of everyday people like you to keep this website going with trustworthy, fresh, and relevant content. If everyone visiting this month gave just $1, catholic.com would be fully funded for an entire year. If you’ve never made a gift, now is the time. Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar this week only. Thanks and God bless.
Dear catholic.com visitors: This Catholic Answers website, with all its free resources, is the world’s largest source of explanations for Catholic beliefs and practices. We receive no funding from the institutional Church and rely entirely on your generosity to sustain this website with trustworthy, accessible content. If every visitor this month donated $1, catholic.com would be fully funded for an entire year. If you’ve never made a gift, now is the time. Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar this week only. Thanks and God bless.

Annius of Viterbo

Dominican archeologist and historian (1432-1502)

Click to enlarge

Annius of Viterbo (GIOVANNI NANNI), archeologist and historian, b. at Viterbo about 1432; d. November 13, 1502. He entered the Dominican Order early in life and won fame as a preacher and writer. He was highly esteemed by Sixtus IV and Alexander VI; the latter made him Master of the Sacred Palace. He was skilled in the Oriental languages, and was so devoted a student of classical antiquity that he changed his name to one that reminded him of Rome‘s Golden Age. Among his numerous writings may be mentioned: (I) “De futuris Christianorum triumphis in Turcos et Saracenos”; a commentary on the Apocalypse, dedicated to Sixtus IV, to Christian kings, princes, and governments (Genoa, 1480); “Tractatus de imperio Turcorum” (Genoa, 1480). He is best known, however, by his “Antiquitatum Variarum”, 17 vols. (Venice, 1499, et step.). In this work he published alleged writings and fragments of several pre-Christian Greek and Latin profane authors, destined to throw an entirely new light on ancient history. He claimed to have discovered them at Mantua. This work met at once both with believers in the genuineness of his sources, and with severe critics who accused him of willful interpolation, or even fabrication. The spurious character of these “historians” of Annius, which he published both with and without commentaries, has long been admitted. It would appear that he was too credulous, and really believed the texts to be authentic. It may be recalled that Colbert left to the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris a manuscript of the thirteenth century, supposed to contain fragments of the writings of two of these writers, i.e. Berosus and Megasthenes. The more important of his unpublished works are: “Volumen libris septuaginta distinctum de antiquitatibus et gestis Etruscorum”; “De correctione typographica chronicorum”; “De dignitate officii Magistri Sacri Palatii”, and lastly, his “Chronologia Nova”, wherein he undertakes to correct the anachronisms in the writings of Eusebius of Caesarea.

JOS. SCHROEDER


Did you like this content? Please help keep us ad-free
Enjoying this content?  Please support our mission!Donatewww.catholic.com/support-us